Somewhere Else

Hello Dear Friends!

I thought I'd pop on here to let you know that I've done much waffling back and forth about blogging. I love this little space and all of you who have visited. It's a part of me. But with time comes change, and I think I've moved on from this format and I don't think I'll be back. I don't plan on closing my blog anytime soon, so it will stay. If you'd like to catch up with what I'm doing you can find me here:

Instagram, Ravelry, Pinterest

As always, Thanks for stopping by my neck of the woods. Sending you all a little Colorado Sunshine,
Staci

Always Socks

Hello Dear Friends!

I've really been feeling the cold this winter. Especially my feet. I've even taken to wearing thin cotton anklets inside my wool socks. At this point, pretty yarn turning into warm socks and hot drinks is the only thing getting me through the season. My love affair with the beauty of winter is pretty thin on the ground by February. I've had enough ice and snow and salt and sand...sadly, they're houseguests that just won't leave. So there's nothing else for it. I Must Knit More Socks. They make me happy...and warm.

 

Gazebo

pattern: plain vanilla socks

yarn: Berroco Boboli Lace

 

Rye

pattern: Rye by tincanknits

yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted

My current socks in progress are a shameless copy of these. I thought they could be my Valentine's socks. But they won't be done in time because I didn't start them till Monday night, and at 9stitches/inch, they're not very fast. And then there's the intarsia heart. Have I ever mentioned how I dislike knitting intarsia (or fair isle?) I think they're gorgeous and I envy people who churn out colorful knits. But, I struggle. The stitches are wonky and the yarns tangle. And I find myself frustrated and pulling out my hair and yarn. Not pretty. But yet, there is a wonky little heart on the heel, and I hope that it all evens out in the blocking. I suppose I could have done it in duplicate stitch, but not sure I was using all my brain cells when I started this sock. Because, if I had been using my brain cells properly, I would have knit the cuff in red to ensure that I would have enough gray yarn for both socks.

 

Well dear friends, that does it for me. I'm off to see what the Olympic events are tonight and knit. Maybe I'll have one Valentine sock by Friday :)

Battling Winter

 

Hello Dear Friends!

 

Winter is still thriving here, as it is in much of the country.  As a knitter, I love the romantic idea of winter...dreaming of warm, woolly handknits to protect against the chill.  Sitting inside where it's cozy with my needles, while the snow falls outside my window.  But the reality of facing the frigid temps is a different story.  I'd stay inside and avoid them if I could.  But, I have to venture out early every morning to take the kiddos to school.

 

I searched Ravelry and then dug into my stash.  And then spent my week making two pairs of warm and woolly cabled mittens to wear on those cold mornings.  These mittens were exactly the sort of project I needed.  Quick, useful and oh, so lovely!



 

Skinny Mittens

pattern: Skinny Fit Mittens by Andrea Black

yarn: Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool

 

 

Cruiser

pattern: Cruiser by Cailyn Meyer

yarn: Tahki Yarns Donegal Tweed Homespun (Vintage)

 

 

We've been having snow every few days.  Big, beautiful soft flakes floating in the air, and fast, small flakes pouring from the sky.  And the way it all clings and coats the trees is breathtaking.  And then in between it all, sunshine and melting and then the next round of snow and ice.  So my next battle plan was casting on some very simple stripey socks.  The sun may be shining, but don't let it fool you, it was cold!!!

 

 

Winter's Cure

pattern: plain vanilla socks w/ picot edge

yarn: Knit Picks Felici Sport Self Striping

 

Spring is still several months away, so I'm still arming myself with needles and yarn!

More of Everything

Hello Dear Friends!

Thank you so much for the very kind welcome back! It feels good to be in blogland again. I need to spend some time with my bloglovin account and add some blogs back into it (I had cleared it all out a while ago.) I still miss google reader.

The new year had me wanting to get the list of knitting wip's whittled down. I've managed to get two crossed off.

I finished my Colorado shawl, knit with some rustic 2-ply Colorado homespun purchased at the Taos Wool Festival many moons ago. The yarn and pattern felt like they were meant for each other. And the pattern...so simple and lovely and clever! Wendy doesn't recommend blocking the finished shawl, but I felt like my yarn could use it and I was right. It bloomed beautifully, and while it's still very "rustic" feeling, it isn't quite as scratchy.

 

Colorado shawl

pattern: Colorado Spring by Wendy D. Johnson

yarn: 2-ply Colorado Homespun

 

 

 I finished my Christmas socks a wee bit after the holidays. I have easily knit a couple hundred pair of socks, but I still get a little giddy with a newly finished pair.

 

Roman Holiday socks

pattern: Blueberry Waffle by Sandy Turner

yarn: Regia

 

And...I actually crossed a few stitches! I cleaned out my drawers (2!) of cross stitch wip's and came across this one that only had a few stripes left to do. Hopefully I'll get it sewn into a little pillow to add to my patriotic basket this year :)

 

 

flag motif

pattern: Summer Patches by Plain & Fancy Collection

fabric: 28ct "staci-dyed" linen

fibers: WDW brick and whiskey, GAST uniform blue, coffee dyed DMC

 



As I said, I cleaned out my cross stitch wip's: tossing some projects, reclaiming linen from others and organizing what remained. I pulled out a couple that I hope to work on here and there, fingers crossed :)
 

So what do I mean by "more of everything"? I hope to knit more stash yarn, do more cross stitch and embroidery, read more, and continue to do more cleaning and organizing. And just appreciating everything a little bit more :)

Thanks for stopping by my neck of the woods. Sending you all a little Colorado Sunshine!

 

A New Year and a Return

Hello My Dear Friends, is there anyone out there?  I never meant to stop blogging, it just sort of happened.  And then as more time passed, it became harder to get back into it.  I became a lurker again, lol.  But I've felt the blogging urge coming back to me in recent months, and well, here I am.  It's a new year and it feels like the right time to dust off my little space and start anew.

Hoping the New Year is full of peace and happiness and wishing the same for you!

Sock it To Me

My sock needles are almost never empty.

But there was almost a full month where they were.

Thankfully, Middle had a band concert.

So I cast on some very plain ones to take with me.

Sock respite over.

Socks have resumed...

**most of these were actually knitted BEFORE the respite**

Cross-Stitch Lounge Socks

by Veronik Avery

Knitting 24/7

Candide "Ragg" Boot Socks

Reynolds #38

64st Picot Edged socks

64st Simple Stockinette socks

You can check out my Ravelry page for more project info.

Thanks for stopping by my neck of the woods and for all your wonderful comments,

they sure make my day!

Happy Sunday!